Who doesn’t want a dazzling white smile?
And now it’s easier than ever! No more expensive dentist visits! No more trips to the drug store for pricey over-the-counter whitening strips or kits.
The secret to a movie-star-quality smile? If you’re online, you can’t miss the ads. They’re the ones with two tiny words that grab your attention: free trial.
Who can pass up something — especially a TV-news-anchor-bright smile — if it’s free?
That’s where the trouble begins. The BBB has learned that the ubiquitous teeth-whitening ads typically link consumers to phony blogs and fake news sites designed to look like impartial third-party endorsements of the products. The phony endorsements then direct consumers to a main Web site that claims the product sold is “As seen on” ABC, Forbes.com CBS News, CNN and USA Today. The ads also show up on all of the search engines.
Complaints to the BBB indicate that many consumers let their trust in respected news outlets influence their level of trust in the products advertised on their Web sites. Combine that with a bogus “free trial” and you’ve got the formula for a lot of unhappy consumers.
The Web sites for various teeth-whitening products claim to offer a no-risk, money-back-guarantee, free trial of the product in return for your credit or debit card number.
Consumers complain to the BBB that they are billed for additional shipments of product before their trial ends and continue to be billed for as much as $79 a month after they have told the company to cancel. In addition, some consumers are finding mystery charges for other companies and services such as weight-loss programs that they didn’t realize they were signing up for with their “free” trial.
This marketing ploy is referred to as negative marketing options and is not limited to tooth-whiteners. You’ll find it used in numerous other “free trial offers” for everything from government grants to weight-loss plans.
The popularity of negative marketing options is so high that BBB officials now refer to it as “a scourge of the Internet.”
How can you avoid becoming a victim?
• Beware of third-party endorsements and be especially cautious of any ad that links to a blog or news Web site. The blogs and supposed news articles are likely created by the company and are not the unbiased endorsements of real consumers or reporters.
• Always, always, always read the fine print. Many Web sites offering free trials of products do not disclose the billing terms and conditions or do not have the details prominently displayed on their Web sites. Before giving the company any credit or debit card information, review the Web site fully and be aware that free trials typically result in repeated billing.
• Before signing up for any free trial, review the company’s Reliability Report online at
wynco.bbb.org to see if the BBB has identified issues with the company. (Dazzle White, for example, has an F rating from the BBB.)
• File a complaint with the BBB if you feel you’ve been ripped off.
Don’t go a day without your BBB. Follow us on
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LinkedIn. For more consumer information or to check out the
BBBlog, visit
wynco.bbb.org or call 970-484-1348 or 800-564-0371.
About the BBB
The Better Business Bureau, founded in 1912, is a champion for ethics and trust in the marketplace. Only businesses that meet the high BBB standards are invited to become BBB Accredited Businesses. Today, 128 BBBs across the United States and Canada rate more than 3 million local and national businesses and charities with scores ranging from A to F. Only a BBB Accredited Business may elect to participate in BBBOnLine, one of the most trusted and recognized Internet seal programs in the world.
The BBB serving northern Colorado and Wyoming is trending toward 1 million instances of service to consumers and businesses in 2009. These services include reliability reports on local companies and charities, access to companies that can be trusted by industry, help with dispute resolution, and trustworthy information on consumer and business topics.
Luanne Kadlub, BBB Media Specialist, 970-686-9307, lkadlub@aol.com